Tulsa artist Benjamin Lyman gaining national fame 21 October 2015

Benjamin Lyman is a Tulsa born musician who has found inspiration through travel.

Katy NicholsStudent Writer

Benjamin Lyman is a Tulsa born musician. After attending Booker T. Washington High School, Lyman would frequently play at local bars and do a few house shows. Looking to further pursue his music career, Lyman moved to NYC. He made a living from busking (playing music on the streets or in subways) and spent most of his time in NYC couch surfing.

As of now, Lyman is living in the west coast city of Los Angeles, CA.

When asked whether or not making music in bigger cities was better Lyman said, “I will say that making art has been truer for me outside of Tulsa,” he explained, “that doesn’t mean […] that I haven’t had good moments in my room [in Tulsa] recording. I think places like Tulsa sort of place a ceiling on a philosophical level that makes it hard for a lot of artists to evolve in their self perception.”

Tulsa musician Benjamin Lyman has made a name for himself beyond Oklahoma.

His music is a breed all of it’s own. It is difficult to place an exact genre on Lyman’s music as it incorporates anything from R&B to hip-hop, acoustic and more.

However, no matter what style of music you tend to drift to, it’s impossible to dislike what Benjamin puts out.

When asked what he thinks is the best thing he’s ever made, Lyman said, “My favorite song right now is a new song I’m working on called NO REASON. It’s sort of an eerie bayou heart break song,” he continues, “It’s about sexual-emotional complexities, territory, release of control and it just has this throbbing anxiety about it that I really like.”

Benjamin Lyman has a unique perspective that a lot of artists fail to meet. His lyrics are honest, fun and emotional.

“As a man, I like songs about romance that are about more than just the celebration of the pursuit or a singular moment of consummation,” he explained. “I think a lot of songs by male singers right now are bullshit, at least the ones about women they love. It’s not romantic to me. I think giving up control a bit, being intuitive, taking a lesser priority when it’s appropriate, are all very sexual and emotional things for a man.”

Lyman has a history of removing his music from his soundcloud, band-camp and other social media; it’s almost a part of his charm. However, in March of 2014, he completely removed any and all music of his from the internet.

He apologized to his friends and fans on twitter (now deleted) stating that he was deleting all of his music for a fresh start.

“I delete my music for many different reasons. I put up a lot of music the last three years because I needed the bandcamp donations. The way I see it, anything you have in the public, you should mean it. A lot of things I used to sing I don’t mean any more, so I started over.”

Benjamin Lyman’s vocals have a hypnotic melody to them. This intense quality is present in every one of his songs. You won’t be able to find much of his music on the internet right now, but that just means this is the perfect time to start building anticipation for the new music he’ll put out.

“I’m working on a new EP here in LA,” Lyman explained. “It has a very new sound; a clearer sense of self is present. It’s still me, more me than ever. There’s a lot of voodoo in this one; a lot of back and forth with the gods. It’s exciting, I’m hoping to release the EP in winter.”